FOB Union III

 These are uparmored busses called rhinos.

 I don't know what this archway is for, but it looked signigicant.  It's in the IZ next to the 14th of July monument.

This is an enormous building on FOB Union III.  (There used to be two other unions)  This is the former Baath party headquarters.  Now it is a US Army headquarters.  We went up on top of the building to take some pictures of the IZ and Baghdad.

 We were looking down on the crossed swords parade ground.  This is the western end.

 The other set with the monument to the unknown soldier behind.  I found out that the clam shell looking thing is supposed to be an arab shield falling to the ground.

 This was to be the largest mosque in the world.  The story I got was that a larger one was built elsewhere and so Saddam lost interest and work stopped.  The cranes have been sitting there ever since.

 If you look closely there is a little speck of a helicopter about to fly by the crossed swords.

 Another shot of the helicopter.  You can see security guys hanging out the doors.

 I thought the mosque in the forground with the swirl in the dome was pretty cool.  The minaret next to it which is the same color is where the islamic imam sings a call to prayer 5 times per day.

 This is a shot of the rest of FOB Union III.  It makes me glad that I'm on Prosperity.  The dome covered structure at the far end is where a bunch of local national vendors have a little mall.  I found out recently that that building is actually the tomb of the guy who started the Baath party.

 A shot of Al Salam Palace

 This used to be a presidential  residence.  Now it is an Iraqi army HQ.  I posted a picture of it from the other side in my last post.

 There was going to be a dome on top of the Baath party headquarters but it was never completed.  During the invasion, coalition pilots dropped a couple of JDAMs into this rotunda which would have eventually been covered with a dome.

 An old concrete bucket I thought was sort of cool.

I don't know what this is but it looked important.

 Some other structure that never got completed witht he cranes still sitting there.  I heard they are French cranes and they want them back.  I guess they should have helped out with the whole war thing.